Brown family are sole owners of Bengals

CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati Bengals announced Friday that Mike Brown and his family are officially the sole owners of the team.

The Brown family purchased the 30 percent of the Bengals they did not own for $200 million from the Knowlton estate. Austin Knowlton, a founder of the team, died in 2003.

“We are proud to be the owners of the NFL’s Cincinnati franchise,” said Bengals President Mike Brown in a news release, speaking on behalf of the Brown family. “We are committed to steps that will continue the Bengals as an asset for Greater Cincinnati.”

The Brown family paid cash in the deal, according to a report from Forbes.

Forbes says with the team's $100 million of debt, the purchase gives them an enterprise value of around $870 million. Forbes recently valued the Bengals at $875 million , 25th out of the league's 32 teams.

Forbes mentions in the report how even though the Bengals have not had much success in recent years, they continue to be highly profitable because of the very favorable lease they have at Paul Brown Stadium.

Forbes expects the Bengals' profitability to increase even further due to the NFL's new collective bargaining agreement and the new TV deals struck with ESPN and other broadcast networks.

But with fading attendance numbers and a trend of blackouts, monetary support from fans continues to be in question more and more.

What the 100 percent ownership by the Brown family means for Bengals fans is to expect more of the same from the team in the coming years, and if that reflects on what has happened this year, it might not be so bad.

To read Forbes' full report, visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2011/12/21/brown-family-buys-remaing-stake-in-cincinnati-bengals-for-200-million/ .